From the horror of the Holocaust to a career in Australian television

The United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2000.

The hope is that when communities all over the world share and preserve the memory of the millions murdered in the Holocaust, future genocides will be prevented.

It is also a day to honour the survivors: the people whose lives are, and forever will be, impacted by their experience of the Holocaust.

Vera Wasowski, a Byron Bay local, is one of the survivors.

She was just six years old when German soldiers marched her and her family into the Lwów Jewish ghetto in Poland.

In this video made during an ABC Open collaboration, Vera recounts memories of the camp and the ruthlessness of her captors.

She also explains how she survived the Holocaust.

Vera migrated to Australia in 1958.

She refused to live on the margins of society, but rather carved out a career as a TV researcher and assistant producer at the ABC on groundbreaking programs like This Day Tonight.

The 79-year-old says the Holocaust was a life-changing experience.

When the United Nations established International Holocaust Remembrance Day, representatives from 46 countries also created the Stockholm Declaration.

This document outlines a global commitment and vision for the future.

"With humanity still scarred by genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism, anti-semitism and xenophobia, the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils. Together we must uphold the terrible truth of the Holocaust against those who deny it. We must strengthen the moral commitment of our peoples, and the political commitment of our governments, to ensure that future generations can understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences." - Extract from the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust

Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on January 27 because in 1945 it was the day when Soviet troops liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

This video was made for ABC Open's video project Object Stories in a collaboration with the Byron Community Centre's, Life of Byron healthy aging initiative.